In the second part of CarbonCopy’s series on India’s native forests, we trace the illicit felling of Khair trees in Uttar Pradesh’s Suhelwa Wildlife Sanctuary, and how a lucrative kattha trade, weak institutions, and complicit officials are pushing this forest, and others like it, towards collapse Forest conservation will be one of the defining issues at COP30. Brazil, as host, is pushing for the Tropical Forests Forever Facility , a multilateral fund to reward countries that

CarbonCopy launches a new 4-part series on the state of India’s native forests, beginning in Chamba, where swollen rivers carried hundreds of cut logs downstream, a warning that India’s ecological foundations are fraying As August sloshed to an end, the people of Chamba badly needed respite — and reassurance. It wasn’t to be. In that last week, rainfall, abnormally high all month, added further intensity . Dumping four times more rain than normal, it would leave Himachal Prad

The Indian state is signing more coal power deals over a long term to meet the surge in evening power demand, despite efforts to expand clean energy capacity, reported Reuters .  Uttar Pradesh and Assam which recently withdrew incentives for clean energy projects are looking to sign purchase deals for at least 7 GW of coal fired power plants to be delivered in 2030, This rush in procurement is fueled by a rise in air conditioning demand under non-solar hours and the slow buil

To meet commitments made under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, India launched the National Red List Assessment (NRLA) 2025–2030 vision, HT reported . The NRLA is a framework to assess the extinction risks of about 11,000 species, including 7,000 species of flora and 4,000 species of fauna, across the country. The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and the Botanical Survey of India (BSI), along with, IUCN-India

Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav said COP30 at Belém in Brazil should be the COP of adaptation, HT and several other outlets reported. Yadav was speaking at the Pre-COP30 meeting in Brasilia. He said COP30 must send a political message that multilateralism remains the cornerstone of global climate action. “We should all agree on a minimum package of indicators from the UAE-Belem Work Programme, leaving some of the rest for further technical discussion as necessary”

India is confident it will meet the 500 GW target of  installed electricity capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030, Pralhad Joshi, minister of new and renewable energy said at the curtain raiser of the eighth assembly of International Solar Alliance, HT reported. On updating NDCs (Nationally determined contributions), he said India has already achieved one of its NDCs which was to achieve about 50% of the cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fu

Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy and Nitin Gadkari inaugurated India’s first heavy duty e-truck with swappable batteries and a swap cum charging stations, reported ET Auto . The swappable batteries technology will allow electric truck batteries in about seven minutes, compared to conventional two hours for charging.  This initiative aims to promote energy efficiency in logistics and with the vision of achieving energy independence by 2047 and net-zero emissions by 2070.  Delhi t

The report said PMSGY has witnessed 57.9 lakh applications submitted yet installations remain at 13%.  A new report found that Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar Yojana (PMSGY) addressed the gap to make rooftop solar financially accessible for households, which was earlier concentrated in the commercial and industrial segments.  The report titled, “Advancing Residential Rooftop Adoption in India Under PM Surya Ghar Yojana” by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis

India to emerge as second-largest renewable market as global clean energy capacity surges A new report revealed that global renewable energy capacity is expected to more than double by 2030. The report titled, “Renewables 2025” by IEA, said that this doubling capacity will be driven by the rapid rise of solar PV and renewables’ expansion.  The report saw global renewable power capacity increasing by 4,600 gigawatts (GW) by 2030—roughly the equivalent of adding China, the Euro

The gaps remain in coordination, social inclusion, and linking long-term goals to today’s policies. A new report revealed that the Paris Agreement has spurred new approaches to climate governance and policy in countries. The report titled “A Decade of National Climate Action: Stocktake and the Road Ahead” from Deep Decarbonization Pathways (DDP) Initiative, an international consortium of researchers working towards decarbonisation, highlighted progress in laying groundwork fo

It will lower system costs, cut emissions, and enhance energy security by reducing reliance on imported fuels Potentially, there is a $1.8 billion cost savings for Thailand by 2037 if the Southeast Asian nations can increase its solar capacity by 89% and battery storage by 60%, respectively compared to the RPDP (revised power development plan) targets. This result was derived from a report by the London-based think tank Ember. The RPDP was outlined in 2024, aiming for 51% re

The report found that rising temperatures, increasingly frequent and severe weather events, and changing waterways are all affecting migratory species. A new report called for multilateral solutions ahead of COP30 as climate change risks a fifth of migratory species to extinction which serves as an essential link in the ecosystem that sustains human life. The report was released by Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) based on the finding

The Tala hydropower dam on the Wangchhu river might overflow due to excessive rainfall, which would have devastating consequences downstream, say experts. After wreaking havoc in the Himalayan states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, extreme rainfall led to flooding in north Bengal. The resultant landslides affected the districts of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri badly, claiming up to 24 lives, according to The Hindu . Calling it a man-made disaster, West Bengal Chief Minister

The letter said that platforming fossil fuel companies through sponsorship agreements, sports bodies risk threatening the sustainability of their own sports Six of the world’s biggest sports organisations, including FIFA, the International Cricket Council, and Formula1, have been asked to justify their sponsorship deals with State-owned Aramco as it risks breaching international human right standards.  A coalition of 10 human rights and climate organisation, including Human R

Part two of CarbonCopy’s series on India’s weather warnings explores how startups and private players are betting on AI, satellites, and new data streams to plug forecasting gaps. While facing hard questions of scale, trust, and integration. In the first part of this series , CarbonCopy explored why India’s weather forecasts so often fall short. Despite major investments in satellites, radars, and data networks, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has struggled to predi

The research says this kind of investment surpassed the investments by the US over four years in the Marshall Plan Chinese firms have pledged at least $227 billion across green manufacturing projects, with 80% of the investments coming in after 2022. A new report titled “China’s Green Leap Outward: The rapid scale-up of overseas Chinese clean-tech manufacturing investments” by Net Zero Industrial Policy said that since 2021, the country has invested in battery materials, full

The scientists say projects like sea curtain and aerosol injections are risky for environment and expensive. Five of the most developed geoengineering ideas are unlikely to help the polar regions from melting. A new study titled “Safeguarding the polar regions from dangerous geoengineering: a critical assessment of proposed concepts and future prospects” by Frontiers in Science found that these ideas can harm ecosystems, communities, international relations, and the chances

Part one of CarbonCopy’s two-part series on India’s forecasting challenge explores how the IMD is grappling with climate-fueled extremes, the gaps in early warnings, and what it will take to strengthen the country’s defense against intensifying disasters. In the mist-clad valleys of the Himalayas, where villages cling to fragile slopes and rivers roar with monsoon fury, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) is grappling with one of its greatest challenges: predicting the

Wealthier countries have an abundance of available land, but have committed the least to forest plantations One of the best ways to reach net-zero goals is to plant and restore forests. Benefits range from greater carbon sequestration to more oxygen in the atmosphere. However, this requires a great deal of land. Therein lies the problem. Planting and restoring forests also have negative impacts on other factors such as biodiversity, food security, water resources. And these s

Data shows that 20 African countries set a new record for the imports of solar panels, while 25 countries imported at least 100 MW In the last 12 months till June 2025, solar panel imports into Africa rose by 60%. The capacity imported hit 15,032 MW — a new record, according to a report by the energy think tank Ember.  This is important because the solar imports are at a scale that can impact and potentially change the electricity system of many countries. The year before, th